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It’s him! After all this time, we finally found him!
But he’s not moving.
Don’t be dead. Don’t be dead.
I dive to my knees by his side and don’t even care that I just bruised the heck out of them. All I care about is checking that Jud is alive.
My flashlight clatters to the floor, and my hands search the place where his beard grows down his neck. “Oh, God!” I whisper. “He’s cold.”
His head hangs so low his chin rests on his chest. Overgrown hair covers his eyes and ears. He’s matted and still and his skin is cold to the touch. Desperately, I press his neck with two fingers.
“Come on. Come on.” Please have a pulse!
There! It’s faint, but I feel a flutter of life inside his carotid.
“He’s alive!” I shout to Stealth. “Get Grim!”
Stealth calls out with his voice rather than the comms, and I hear footsteps coming. More than one set.
Stealth wheels around in alarm, and I throw my arms around Jud to protect him from any enemies looking to stop our rescue. Jud doesn’t put his arms around me, and I can’t even describe how wrong that feels.
“It’s just Doc,” Stealth says, and my shoulders sag with relief. “And Grim’s behind him. Hey!” he calls out to them. “We got him! He’s here! He’s alive!”
“We need help!” I call out. “He’s holding on by a thread!”
I cup Jud’s face in my hands. His beard, normally trimmed and tidy, is a matted mess, and his hair hangs in limp, greasy clumps over his face. With trembling fingers, I push the hair out of his eyes. I want to see him. I want him to see me and know he’s safe now.
But what I find beneath his hair fills me with horror. Everything I know and everything I am crashes down in a torrent of agony. Where Jud’s eyes were are two blackened, scabbed-over holes.
“Oh my God!” My hands flutter over his face, but I’m afraid to touch him. Someone—someone has gouged out his eyes! “Where’s Doc? We need Doc!”
Jud’s face rests heavy in my hands. I don’t think he has any strength left. Could it be they locked him in here and just left him? Has he had any food or water?
“Someone, get water! Where’s Doc!”
“I’m here.” Doc’s voice injects a tiny bit of calm into my rising panic. I don’t know how he got here so fast, but I’m beyond thankful.
“Out of the way,chér.” His tone is brisk as he squats in front of Jud. When he sees what I’m still struggling to process, a stream of curses falls from his lips. “Goddamned mother-fuckers!What did they do to you?”
Jud’s mouth opens and closes.
“He’s trying to talk.” It’s Stealth. He’s standing in the cell door, guarding me and Doc as we try to help Jud.
“What is it?” Doc asks. His hands are already moving over Jud’s form, healing him, I hope. “What do you need? Water? Stealth!” he calls out. “Find water! Fast as you can!” Then to Jud, he says, “We’re getting you water. I’m healing you. Hang on, buddy.”
I hear Stealth run back the way we came.
“You can fix this, right?” I ask Doc. I’m holding the panic at bay, but only barely. “Tell me you can heal him.”
He shakes his head, and I don’t like that one bit. “I don’t know. I just—I need quiet. Andheneeds more than I can do with my Gift. He needs fluids immediately. There should be a med kit under the seat in the MTV.”
“I’ll go get it!” I need to do something. As I run from the ward, I hear Doc using his radio. He’s calling the guys in the chopper. He wants them to come get Jud and bring him to the base we set up at that hospital in Baton Rouge.
I’m tearing through the ward’s reception area when I hear Stealth’s voice.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He snags my utility vest as I race past him, and I come to a screeching halt.
“Medic kit,” I breathe. “In the truck.”
